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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Divorce..The Unforgivable! Part 2

NOT!

Have you ever heard some preacher or teacher say that "You cannot get to heaven on your Grandmothers coat tail." I have. That is how I lived. I remember the Sunday mornings and the Sunday nights and Wednesday nights and choir practice and WMU meetings (Women's Missionary Union). Grandmother took me to ALL of them. It was church church church. I was raised for the most part on the back of a pew in a small town and because of that I settled into a false reality of being "saved." After all I knew all the songs and could tell you all the bible stories. I was a good girl, did not drink (yet) smoke (yet) dance (YET). Justified by the law, living in the law, hiding under the "Do's" and "Don't Do's".Religion....... It will kill you.

Why do we EVEN try to justify our sin? Not just the divorce that hangs over us that have lived in that shame but the SIN. All the sin, the sin that SO easily besets us.We have the Scribes and the Pharisees to give us the example. They walked around pious with their sins and secrets hidden under a facade of their righteousness, and they demanded the same from others but not really expecting results.Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery, and the crowd that gathered. They were shouting and reminding Jesus of the law. Now Jesus had quite a following so you must know that there was a crowd and look who brought her to HIM.

Take a minute and read this

Jhn 8:3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,Jhn 8:4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.Jhn 8:5Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"Jhn 8:6This they said, testing Him, that they might have [something] of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with [His] finger, as though He did not hear.

He ignored them..... or so it seems... Just let them dig themselves deeper.. I would love to have been there and had my camera, take a picture of that writing in the sand.

Jhn 8:7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."

Jhn 8:8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

He ignored them..... or so it seems... AGAIN.....

Now walk through that; they are not speaking to HIM in kind even tones, there is yelling and shouting and verbal insults being hurled. The woman lay curled up on the ground awaiting the first stone, and from whom she had no idea. There was chaos. There was a crowd.

Then HE waited. Then, by the burning conviction of their hearts they began to turn away, and do you not find it interesting that the oldest went first then down to the youngest. The wisdom of age, they knew, they turned away, THEIR sin had found them out and there was no justifying the slaying of the woman, unless they too be stoned.

Jhn 8:9 Then those who heard [it], being convicted by [their] conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest [even] to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.Jhn 8:10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?

"Jhn 8:11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.Jhn 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

Jhn 8:13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."

Jhn 8:14"Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.

Jhn 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

Now ladies, do not read this in a passive tone, read it as it happened. Walk through that with the crowd and then with the ones accusing, then the WOMAN, don't forgot to see this through her eyes. Watch Jesus as they yell... Why do we think this was a peaceful crowd? It was not.. Watch them as they approach HIM.

They were so angry at him that they (the Pharisees) accused HIM in verse 13 of being a liar and spouting things that HE believes, and not the law. They were angry that they were not going to get permission to stone her.

I have said all that to say this, look at the last scripture in that story,

JOHN 8:15 YOU JUDGE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH; I JUDGE NO ONE.

I have not digressed from my original thought, this is about sin and the judgment of the crowd and the GRACE of the Savior.

In the later years after the Lord brought me out of my darkness and began to teach me as to HIS ways and the life that HE has for me I would use a scripture to stop many a different teacher and preacher that would want to put me back into condemnation.

You see God does not judge our flesh, HE has already judged us and killed us and we are buried with Christ.

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

We have read these scriptures all our life, but we must understand what HE is saying. HE knew that we would be judged according to the flesh by the crowds.

God has made provision for the flesh, we need to understand that. There is a sin nature in the flesh and God had to kill it, so we were crucified with Christ. HE has made provision for our flesh, HE killed it. Consider yourself dead, but still alive, living according the the life that now lives in me, the life of Christ.

We have to learn that. We are going to have fits with the flesh until we lay it down. It is not going to go without a fight.

But now in the believer HE judges the heart. It is the heart where the trouble lies, it is divisive and evil and it is where HE comes and HE changes. What a job HE has.

In the book of James in the following verses we read.......

James 2:8 If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:James 2:9 but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

Ok. If you love your neighbor and do them no harm, but if you love your other neighbor more and do them well, you have more respect for one than the other, you have committed a sin. OMG! Then how do we live without sin? We do not.

Then it goes on to say that if you keep the WHOLE law and then fail in just one, you have broken them all. If you tell a lie, just one lie then you are guilty of murder, lust, killing, adultery, gossip stealing....you are guilty of breaking all the law. Now that right there will make a Sadducee very sad you see and a Pharisee, go and hide.

If you lust after a woman or man in your heart, you are as guilty as the one that commits the act.

IT is a heart condition, HE judges our hearts. That keeps us free, it is hard to understand but we are free when we understand that HE can come and live in our hearts and HE brings the life that HE now lives and imparts the full nature of the Father...... and if that be so then NO man can throw the first stone. For who knows the heart of man, Only God..

This is not a life of good, gooder and best, or bad badder or worst! (you teachers out there just take a deep breath, it will be ok)There are not sins that God will wink at and sin that God will strike us down for; there is sin. If it is not holy it is unholy and if it is unholy it is sin.

Now, after reading that, which is the word of God and not my thoughts it is clear that Christ came to save us from our sin and not sins. Oh Lord help me for I am a sinner saved by grace and not of works least any man should boast.

Now all of this said is not to justify anything, least of all divorce, but where in the world do we say that one sin is forgivable and the other is not, or where do we judge the hardness of the heart in divorce over the hardness of the heart over murder or stealing or lying or malicious hatred and the list can go on and on and on. Where do we find in the word of God the greater and lessor sin? We cannot. HE walked the walk to Calvary to cleanse us from our sin. HE saw ALL my sin when HE hung on that tree... HE loved me still and HE offered to me salvation through HIS shed blood. HE judges me not in the flesh but now HE judges me according to my heart.

"There are not sins that God will wink at and sin that God will strike us down for; there is sin. If it is not holy it is unholy and if it is unholy it is sin".

Amen, Sister!! I've always said sin is sin...we (society) put the degree on the "badness" of the sin. Murder, Adultery...but it's okay to tell a little fib or stretch the truth to make it sound better...NOT!!

Enjoyed this post immensely!

(I found you on...well, I can't remember whose blog now...but glad I did!)

Denise, you are doing a great work, telling it like it is! I'm so thankful that Jesus paid the price for our sin. I am so thankful that we have a wonderful, loving, forgiving God. I am so thankful that God has servants like yourself to help us and remind us of the Truth.

I've never really thought sin was as big a deal to God as we make it out to be. In his eyes he's already paid the price for it and forgiven us for it. We are the one's who hold on to it and obsess over it. We're the one's who judge others for it and try to hide our own from everyone else. Perhaps if we could see it as God sees it we would get over ourselves and past the sin.

Good job here. If we could just get these truths deep down in...what a change it would make. Sin is sin...He went to the cross for a stole pencil as well as for a murder. That said...the only thing that separates us from Him is the person who is unwilling to admit his guilt. But nothing can separate us from the love of God.

You know the woman who was going to be stoned never forgot the lesson she learned that day. May we all be that way one day.May we know that we are free.

This is much heart work to ponder and pray on...oh how I needed to read this. Now..I need to pray and ask forgiveness. Why do we battle sin every second of every day of our adult life? Sometimes I am so tired hon...tired of the battle. How can I keep going to His Cross and ask to be forgiven AGAIN and again? I am so unworthy...the battle seems to be fiercer now more than ever. The testing...the doubt,repeating the same sins and transgression!! ( it's been a rough couple weeks hon) Are we being assaulted by evil more now? I just seem to be more aware of this spiritual warfare or something..although I gave my life to Him 34 years ago... and know that HE is victorious over all sin. Am I making sense?

Thank you so much for visiting my blog as it has led me to yours! Your words are very insightful and I will visit again to read older posts and will follow new ones.

My upbringing was much like yours...I went for years and knew about the Lord, but it wasn't until later that I really came to know Him. Religious "do's" and "don'ts" kept me from having a truly intimate relationship with my Saviour.